1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to boats and, more specifically, to a small boat having sections that can be separated and stacked to facilitate storage or transportation, including portability, of the boat.
2. Description of the Related Art
Small open-hulled boats commonly used for fishing and recreational boating are variously known as skiffs, johnboats, launches and rowboats, among other names, depending on their construction and regional name preferences. Such boats have an open hull made of wood, aluminum, fiberglass or similar materials and one or more seats extending laterally across the hull between the gunwales. Although such a boat may be sufficiently light in weight to be carried to and from the water by as few as 2-4 people, the boat is nonetheless cumbersome to carry. Although the smaller types of such boats may be transported atop an automobile or other vehicle, several people are needed to load and unload the boat and carry it to and from the water. Furthermore, the boat occupies a relatively large space when stored on land or atop a vehicle.
Severably sectioned boats have been developed in an attempt to overcome the difficulties associated with transporting and storing small open-hulled boats. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,322, issued to Cook, describes a boat having sections or modules that may be separated from one another during transportation of the boat on land. Each section has a watertight bulkhead that enables the section to float even when separated from the other sections. The hull sections nest inside one another to minimize the space required to store the boat. The sections are connected by connectors that bridge the bulkheads and align the adjacent sections. The connectors serve a dual function because they are also part of the seats. Each section has tubes that, when the boat is aligned, register with one another from bow to stern through the gunwales and the keel. Cables extend through the tubes to tie the sections together. A screw fitting is then adjusted in a turnbuckle-like manner to exert tension on the cable.
The boat described in the Cook patent suffers from several problems. The most critical of these problems is that the sections are likely to separate during rough use because the cables and bulkhead connectors do not connect the sections together very securely.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,556, issued to Smith, describes a similar boat in which fasteners such as bolts connect adjacent bulkheads. U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,552, issued to Moye, describes a similar boat in which over-center latches on the gunwales as well as threaded vertical rods connect the sections together.
It would be desirable to provide a severably sectioned boat having sections that can be connected more securely than those of prior boats and that provide improved structural integrity when connected. These needs are clearly felt in the art and are satisfied by the present invention in the manner described below.
The present invention relates to a boat having two or more open hull sections that may be assembled prior to using the boat and disassembled or separated from one another prior to transporting or storing the boat. The forwardmost hull section is defined by the bow and an aft bulkhead. The aftmost hull section is defined by the transom and a forward bulkhead. Each middle hull section, in embodiments of the invention having more than two hull sections, is defined by a forward bulkhead and an aft bulkhead. An important feature of the invention is that the sections are rigidly joined through elongated structural load-bearing members extending between each section""s forward and aft ends. The structural load-bearing rigid members may include the keel or the gunwales or both. Each end portion of such member aligns and couples with a facing end portion of the structural load-bearing member of an adjacent hull section through a rigid, load-bearing and load-transferring elongated shank member. The cooperation of each pair of facing rigid members and the shank interfitted with them causes all hull sections to be integrated into a rigid, load-bearing unitary boat. A cable may extend the length of the boat to prevent the shanks from being displaced from their relationship with the rigid member end pairs during operation of the boat. Latches of any suitable type may be included on the gunwales, bulkheads or elsewhere for the same purpose.
Therefore, in one broad embodiment, the present invention is a boat comprising a linear fore-and-aft alignment of a plurality of floatable hull sections, each section comprising a bottom, a pair of opposed sides and a transverse bulkhead, and having a forward end and an aft end, and having extending between the forward and aft ends at least one rigid member, each rigid member having a respective terminal end adjacent each of the forward end and aft end; the rigid members being disposed on each of the respective hull sections such that when the hull sections are linearly aligned the rigid members are correspondingly linearly aligned, such that pairs of opposed terminal ends of a rigid members are disposed in facing relationships on respective adjacent hull sections; at least one rigid elongated linear shank member; each shank member spanning between a pair of facing terminal ends and cooperating therewith to form a rigid, load bearing coupling between the adjacent sections; such that cooperation between each respective shank member and pair of facing terminal ends for all the hull sections couples the hull sections into a rigid, load bearing unitary boat.
In another broad embodiment, the invention is of a method for assembling a boat, comprising the steps of providing a plurality of floatable hull sections, each section comprising a bottom, a pair of opposed sides and a transverse bulkhead, and having a forward end and an aft end, and having extending between the forward and aft ends at least one rigid member, each rigid member having a respective terminal end adjacent each of the forward end and aft end; disposing the rigid members on each of the respective hull sections such that when the hull sections are linearly aligned the rigid members are correspondingly linearly aligned, such that pairs of opposed terminal ends of a rigid members are disposed in facing relationships on respective adjacent hull sections; providing at least one rigid elongated linear shank member; aligning the hull sections in a linear, fore-and-aft alignment with the pairs of opposed terminal ends of the rigid members correspondingly aligned; and disposing a shank member between each pair of facing terminal ends in a cooperating relationship therewith to form a rigid, load bearing coupling between the adjacent sections; whereby such cooperation between each respective shank member and pair of facing terminal ends for all the hull sections couples the hull sections and forms the plurality of hull sections into a rigid, load bearing unitary boat.